On the other hand, the rising costs are more difficult to pass on to subscribers when pay TV providers are under pressure from cord cutting — where customers drop their TV subscription and instead watch shows on the Internet.

“There is no doubt the cost of sports programming — and in particular regional sport programming — is the single fastest growing cost component in the pay TV business,” said Mark Kersey, an industry analysts with Kersey Research Strategies. “So we are seeing a lot of stalemates in these negotiations.”

Time Warner says Fox Sports is seeking a 400 percent increase from what it was previously paying to broadcast the Padres. While it claims the two sides are still talking, “Fox’s demands are unfair and unreasonable,” said Time Warner Cable spokeswoman Ann Kelsey in a statement.

Fox counters that both Cox Communications and DirecTV have already agreed to its asking price, thus setting the market rate. Moreover, Fox Sports San Diego will carry games from the Los Angeles Clippers, Anaheim Ducks and some college sports as well as the Padres, giving it a much more robust sports programming package than Cox’s Channel 4 San Diego had last year.

“We’ve offered Time Warner a fair rate that is consistent with the terms Cox and DirecTV have agreed to,” said Fox spokesman Chris Bellitti. “In light of Time Warner’s recent spending on sports in Los Angeles (Lakers, Galaxy, Pac-12 channels), it’s disappointing Time Warner doesn’t likewise value the Padres and San Diego sports fans.”

According to estimates from SNL Kagan, which were confirmed by two sources familiar with the matter, Time Warner Cable paid a monthly fee of approximately $1.45 per subscriber to carry the Padres last year.

If Time Warner’s fourfold increase claim is accurate, the monthly per subscriber asking rate for Fox Sports San Diego is above $5.

As a comparison, the average per-subscriber rate this year for the 35 regional sports networks that SNL Kagan tracks nationwide is $2.50.

While the per-subscriber fees are clearly the crux of the dispute between Fox Sports and Time Warner, there may be other factors at play as well, say analysts.

A key issue could be Fox’s Prime Ticket channel, which also featured Clippers and Duck games. Fox Sports is essentially allowing pay TV providers to drop Prime Ticket if they replace it with Fox Sports San Diego, which mitigates the cost of the new channel. DirecTV carries Prime Ticket in its channel lineup. But Time Warner does not in the majority of its San Diego footprint, which means it wouldn’t get the same savings.

Moreover, there’s a budding rivalry between Time Warner Cable and Fox Sports over TV rights to sports teams in Southern California — most notably Time Warner’s recent 20-year, multibillion deal for the broadcast rights to the L.A. Lakers. There was speculation last year that Time Warner was among the bidders for the Padres TV deal.

“Fox has come in and said, ‘We have San Diego. You have L.A. Let’s be friends,’ ” said Swanson, the SNL Kagan analyst. “Whereas Time Warner may not be waiting to be friends now.”